Buckeye70

Smooth, Wil. Smooth.

Because it's easier to time the show that way.

In television, timing is EXTREMELY important. If a commercial is supposed to be :30, that means it's usually 00:29 + a few frames (to allow for a few frames of black in between commercials). If every commercial was :31, then by the time a full break of four to six commercials has run, you'd lose around :05 of the show as you came back from break. Same idea with shows--if a show is supposed to be 23:56, then it had better be 23:56 from fade up to fade out. Longer than that, commercials get clipped, or it runs into the next show.

Live to tape just means that it's easier to hit the time.

Edit: Oh, by the way...I've worked in TV (as a director of both live and taped programs) for almost 20 years, so I'm speaking from experience.

I grew up in rural Indiana, and Pioneer Seed Corn was a huge employer in the summer back in the day (I think it's mostly immigrants these days). Hundreds of kids would head out to the fields to detassle hundreds upon hundreds of acres.

In college, my summer job was working for Pioneer following the crews around to make sure the fields were clean enough. Fun job, and I walked my ASS off.

It's funny when I'm talking about jobs I had when I was a kid, and the number of people who don't understand seed corn and what goes into producing it.

Yep!

I had to follow the crews an count leftover (missed) tassels and count them up. If there was more than 1 left in 100 stalks, the entire field had to be worked again. Those crew leaders hated me...lol

Ya??? Good for them.

It's a miserable job...cold and wet in the morning, and hot and sticky during the day. Now most ride rigs pulled by tractors, but when I was a kid, they walked (unless the corn was too high to reach). It builds character, and teaches about what real hard work is.